PSU help

[Vipper]

I got new psu 500w but my motherboard only accepts 6pin connecter instead of usual 24 pins connector.

 

Spoiler

 

Would 24 Pin to 6 Pin ATX Power Adapter work?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/COMeap-Power-Adapter-Workstation-12-inch/dp/B06XW7RWNH?th=1

[DofD68]

It might...   It really depends on what the pinout of the power connector on the motherboard is.  Any adapter would have to have matching pinouts and functionality.  This is one of the problems with proprietary motherboards/power connectors/PSU's that off the shelf replacement parts may or may not work.  

[mariushm]

You would want to figure out exactly what motherboard you have...or if it's in an original computer from a company like Dell or HP, the actual model name of the computer, which should be written on a sticker somewhere.

Then, you would look to see if there are such cables or eBay or other places that explicitly mention that motherboard or the model name as compatible with.

 

Just showing us that 6 pin connector is not enough.

As an example, there are some HP computers that have a 6 or 8 pin connector similar to the one in your picture but there's also a second cable coming from the power supply with a few thin wires (5-8 wires)...  

A few motherboards use the same big connector but a subset has that thin connector with fewer wires and a few wires have different roles but otherwise that thin connector looks similar... so that subset of motherboards would not be compatible with the other subset and you could buy an  adapter cable which works only on one subset. 

 

[Vipper]

7 minutes ago, mariushm said:

You would want to figure out exactly what motherboard you have...or if it's in an original computer from a company like Dell or HP, the actual model name of the computer, which should be written on a sticker somewhere.

Then, you would look to see if there are such cables or eBay or other places that explicitly mention that motherboard or the model name as compatible with.

 

Just showing us that 6 pin connector is not enough.

As an example, there are some HP computers that have a 6 or 8 pin connector similar to the one in your picture but there's also a second cable coming from the power supply with a few thin wires (5-8 wires)...  

A few motherboards use the same big connector but a subset has that thin connector with fewer wires and a few wires have different roles but otherwise that thin connector looks similar... so that subset of motherboards would not be compatible with the other subset and you could buy an  adapter cable which works only on one subset. 

 

Found a bit more information about the pc 
https://uk.pcmag.com/old-desktop-pcs/132850/acer-aspire-tc-390-ua92

[mariushm]

Well then I'd say 90% sure that cable wouldn't work, that cable is for HP systems

[Vipper]

Just now, mariushm said:

Well then I'd say 90% sure that cable wouldn't work, that cable is for HP systems

So, any ideas for the cable adapter that would work? 

[mariushm]

Start searching using keywords like aspire tc-390 adapter cable  / tc-390 power supply cable etc

 

Or, grab a multimeter and try to figure out the voltages in the connector .. see if they're 5v stand-by or 12v stand-by, if that connectors gives anything else besides 12v, figure out which pins are ground (with the psu turned off and meter in continuity mode, put probe on metal part of case and the other probe on pins ... beeps means those pins are ground) , which wire is power_good (tells motherboard the psu is "initialized" and ready to give full power  and which is the power on wire (motherboard connects that pin to ground to tell psu to start) - you can disconnect power supply completely from pc and try to connect the pin you think is power on to a ground pin and the psu should start.

 

The psu should also give you some hints about voltages on the cable... the voltages should be printed on the label on the power supply. 

[Vipper]

8 hours ago, mariushm said:

Start searching using keywords like aspire tc-390 adapter cable  / tc-390 power supply cable etc

 

Or, grab a multimeter and try to figure out the voltages in the connector .. see if they're 5v stand-by or 12v stand-by, if that connectors gives anything else besides 12v, figure out which pins are ground (with the psu turned off and meter in continuity mode, put probe on metal part of case and the other probe on pins ... beeps means those pins are ground) , which wire is power_good (tells motherboard the psu is "initialized" and ready to give full power  and which is the power on wire (motherboard connects that pin to ground to tell psu to start) - you can disconnect power supply completely from pc and try to connect the pin you think is power on to a ground pin and the psu should start.

 

The psu should also give you some hints about voltages on the cable... the voltages should be printed on the label on the power supply. 

Found the original power supply 

[mariushm]

Well, at least that tells you that it's only 12v in that power supply.

 

So the 6 pin going into the motherboard most likely has the POWER_GOOD and POWER_OK wires from the standard 24 pin atx connector and there's probably a 12v stand-by wire there.  If that's the case, an adapter cable would need to have a dc-dc converter to convert the 5v stand-by of regular power supplies to 12v stand-by the motherboard would expect.

 

Some HP adapter cables have such dc-dc converter but you can't just use such cable because the pinout would be different, not compatible with your motherboard ... but i'm saying it because someone that knows a bit of electronics could "harvest" that module from a hp cable and use it to make a cable for this motherboard.

 

Basically what I would do is get a multimeter and try to figure out the role of each wire.

The obvious starting point would be to figure out which pins are ground (continuity to psu case) and which pin (if any) is 12v standby (you'd measure around 12v on that pin). That should leave you with at least one or two pins which are those two signal wires.

I'm good enough at electronics and repairing stuff that I would be comfortable opening the power supply and actually look where the wires from the 6 pin connector go. Sometimes on the circuit board there's text saying the role of that wire placed right where the wire enters the circuit board - for example if it says PG you'd know it's power_good wire, if it says pok, it's probably power ok, if it says 12vSB or VSB that's stand-by voltage ... if some wires are soldered in same hole as the ground wires of cpu connector, those  are ground wires.

 

You should NOT open the power supply, it's very dangerous, you may die. Don't do it. Maybe take it to some repair place service place, give them a few dollars/euro as a tip and ask them to open it up for you and make sure it's discharged and maybe ask them to help you figure the pinout.

 

Once I figure out the colors of each wires, I could basically make my own adapter. You can buy 5v to 12v converters online, either from ebay or actual retailers like digikey mouser farnell/newark etc (again if needed) , and all you'd need is some solder, a soldering iron and some heatshrink to cover the solder joints.

 

If you want something already made.... keep searching using keywords.

Worth also searching for that power supply using its code, fsp180-10tgbaa

I see for example a listing saying "For veriton model xyz  fsp180  power supply"  so that tells you this same power supply was using in a pc called veriton , so maybe you can now search for  "veriton power supply adapter cable" and maybe you get lucky (you check pictures to make sure it's same 6 pin connector)

and repeat the process and keep searching and hope you get lucky.